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Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Almost there...

Have you ever been away from your husband for three weeks? I mean short of them being in the military (Thank you!) I can't imagine that many people are away from their spouse for longer than a work week or so. Hell, I hadn't been. Until now.

So. What have I learned? Here goes.

You can go an entire day without showering and not realize it. Sure I have gone a day without showering but usually it's a conscious decision. The last three weeks it's been 10 at night when I realize and at that point, what's the point? To be clear this isn't a daily occurrence. I do shower.

There is no point, absolutely no point in cooking a meal. If you have children like mine who only eat kid food. Buy some lettuce, some chicken, some feta and some balsamic vinaigrette and call it dinner. For a week.

Bed is lonely.

There is little to no reason for makeup unless you are escaping for a lunch or dinner out.

Same goes for shaving your legs.

Every time you swear you will nap at nap time, one of your children will mess up that plan.

Every night when you go to bed praying to sleep a solid six without being awakened you will be.

You will take on major challenges like potty training just to stay busy, on your toes, and accomplish things.

Sometimes you will ok pretzels for breakfast. Against your better judgement.

If your time away is during summer television, find a hobby. Virtual house hunting is mine.

If you buy Trader Joe's little delish cookies, you will eat them. At night. When you shouldn't.

You can stop buying in bulk. Don't stop buying wine.

You have more patience than you knew.

Honestly, the worst part hasn't been the toddler or the getting up in the middle of the night or the potty training or the constant kiddo entertaining. I have surprised myself actually. I haven't lost my temper, have found a rhythm. Everyone is fed, entertained and clean (except for me...) and happy.

The worst part is missing who makes us whole. Trying to explain to a toddler how long a week is. The worst part is that my best friend is a thousand miles away. And I am better because of him. So being away from him is hard.

But this is temporary. He isn't in Afghanistan. He's in Florida. And soon we will be too.

Those of you who do this on your own, every day, here's to you. You are stronger than anyone knows. You deserve a drink. And a break.

The Best part? I could have been showing the house once a day for the last three weeks. Now if I can get through closing without making our realtor cry we will be sitting pretty.